Local health care giants HealthPartners and Park Nicollet Health Services have completed the merger that they announced in August.
 
Effective Wednesday, the two organizations officially joined under the name HealthPartners and a single, consumer-governed board of directors.
 
The combined organization serves more than 1.4 million medical and dental health plan members nationwide and more than 1 million patients, mostly in Minnesota and western Wisconsin. It includes a multispecialty group practice of more than 1,700 physicians, five hospitals, 44 primary care clinics, 18 urgent care locations, 20 dental clinics, and numerous specialty practices.
 
HealthPartners spokesman Jeff Shelman told Twin Cities Business on Wednesday that no money changed hands in connection with the merger and no layoffs are expected. The merged organization will employ close to 20,000 and be headquartered in Bloomington, where HealthPartners was based prior to the merger; Park Nicollet was based in St. Louis Park.
 
Health plan members and patients won’t see any major changes as a result of the combination. HealthPartners and Park Nicollet clinics will continue to operate under their current names, and patients of both systems will have the same access and coverage as they did prior to the merger.
 
Mary Brainerd, president and CEO of HealthPartners, will retain those same titles within the merged organization. Meanwhile, David Abelson, president and CEO of Park Nicollet, has been named president of the combined organization’s care delivery system, the Park Nicollet HealthPartners Care Group.
 
“Park Nicollet and HealthPartners, each formed through many strong partnerships and combinations over the decades, have shared a common mission for years,” Brainerd said in a prepared statement. “With this combination, we intend to focus on making people healthier, making health care more affordable, and creating the best possible experiences for patients and members.”
 
The merged organization said that benefits to the community will include “stronger coordination of patient care, shared planning and capital investment, and new links between care and insurance that will lead to more transparency, choice, and value for consumers.”
 
HealthPartners and Park Nicollet signed an agreement of joint operations on August 30.